OKLAHOMANS TO BE HONORED IN ROSE PARADE

​Two Oklahomans will be representing their state in the 2017 Tournament of Roses Parade. Stacy Hadley, of Oklahoma City, and Logan Wilke, of Edmond, will be a part of the Donate Life Float featured in the parade.

Every year, LifeShare of Oklahoma helps sponsor the Donate Life Float in the Tournament of Roses Parade to spread the message about organ, eye and tissue donation. As a sponsor, LifeShare is able to send one recipient to ride the float and one donor portrait to be honored on the float.

The 2017 float depicts a Polynesian catamaran, which will be propelled by a team of 24 organ, eye and tissue transplant recipients rowing in unison with strength gained from donors. The sails of the vessel will feature 60 floral portraits of donors interwoven with Polynesian designs and patterns.

This January, Oklahoma will be represented by the following individuals:

Stacy Hadley – Organ DonorStacy will be honored on the Donate Life Float as an organ donor in a floragraph. A floragraph is a portrait of the donor, created with floral materials such as seeds, grains, spices, dried flowers and other organic materials. She is one of 60 donors to be featured on this year’s float.

Stacy’s StoryStacy Hadley grew up an athlete. A team mentality was instilled in her as she played softball and basketball in her teenage years. She worked for the good of the team both in athletics as well as her everyday life.

Stacy enjoyed spending time on the lake with her friends and family. Often, you would catch her skiing and wakeboarding behind a boat and soaking in the rays of the summer sun.

​She willingly helped when her hand was needed on her father’s ranch. Feeding and moving animals as well as appreciating the great outdoors was a part of her routine. She enjoyed riding the horses, especially her own horse.

​​Logan Wilke – Tissue RecipientLogan will also be honored this year at the Rose Parade as one of 24 riders on the Donate Life Float.

Logan’s StoryIn 2011, Logan Wilke was competing in a cross country motorcycle race when he lost his balance on a creek crossing. He put his foot down to help with his balance and as soon as he did he felt an extreme pain in his knee as he fell to the ground. Logan knew immediately he had torn his ACL. An MRI the next day confirmed it and he was scheduled for surgery within a week or so. He chose to receive donor tissue to repair his ACL. Unfortunately, in 2013, he tore his first ACL graft while working around his property. Logan received a second graft in October of 2013 and he is thankful for his donors every day for allowing him to still be able to be active and enjoy the things he loves to do.

Logan not only is a tissue recipient, but also works as an Organ Recovery Coordinator for LifeShare. In his position, he facilitates the recovery of organs for transplant as well as trains new staff.

“The thing I love most about working at LifeShare is the impact we have in people’s lives. It may sound like a cliché, but this is the reason I became a nurse – to help others,” Wilke said. “In my job, I get to meet some of the most amazing families at the worst time in their lives and they seem to still have compassion to help others.”

Logan is also a veteran having served in the United States Army for six years. When he is not busy working as an Organ Recovery Coordinator for LifeShare of Oklahoma, he is spending time with his wife and two beautiful daughters, ages 13 and one. He also enjoys riding his dirt bike and he was even featured on ESPN once as one of the best crashes of the weekend during a motorcycle race in southern California.

​“We are honored to have two Oklahomans to represent organ, eye and tissue donation this year at the Rose Parade,” said Jeffrey Orlowski, President and Chief Executive Officer of LifeShare of Oklahoma. “With a U.S. television audience in the tens of millions and a worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions, these individuals will not only be representing the importance of donation, they will serve as representatives of Oklahoma and the approximately 800 citizens of the state who are waiting on a lifesaving transplant.”

LifeShare encourages everyone across the state to tune-in to watch the 128th Rose Parade on Monday, January 2, 2017.